The Paris Observatory: partner of the Space Caravan in Morocco

From the 27th to the 29th of September 2016, about fifteen Ph.D. students from the Paris Observatory will be involved in an original scientific popularization event in Moroco: the Space Caravanun.

The driving force for this campaign is Meriem El Yajouri, Ph.D. student in the Paris Observatory’s GEPI laboratory. She is coordinating the franco-moroccon network of astronomy academics who are organizing the entire event.

During the entire month of October, a Spacebus travel across the sharifian kingdom, visiting 17 towns and villages.

This roughly 1700 km long trip is destined to expose all members of the public to astronomy, and in particular those in distant regions with little access to scientific culture because of their isolation.

At each stop, day-long events (talks, workshops) are programmed for schools and/or universities. They will be followed by a public talk at the end of the afternoon, and an evening of observation for all.

The Paris Observatory capitalizes in this way on its experience in the teaching and dissemination of scientific culture in Africa, after Bénin in 2006 (involving students from the OSAE Master diploma), 2007 and 2009, Gabon in 2013, and the Senegalese Spacebus Sénégal in 2015.

Over and above what these events contribute to the populations encountered, they are also particularly beneficial to the French participants themselves, who acquire in this way the elements of scientific popularization in diverse cultures and contexts, and contribute to the spread of astronomy in the francophone world.